William Carr

“ Baker supplied them with stores and placed his three vessels at their disposal for their journey down the Nile; no less generous were they in informing him of what remained to be discovered. Speke gave his own maps, in which he had inserted the supposed position of the lake into which he had been informed the Nile flowed, and from which it issued again, and urged his friend to complete the discovery of the Nile source. Baker's first difficulties were due to the active hostility of the slave-dealers, to whose caravan he attempted to attach himself. ”

“ On the occasion of the Russo-Turkish war (1877-8) Baker took service under the sultan, in the first instance as major-general of gendarmerie. But in August 1877, at the request of Mehemet Ali Pasha, he was appointed staff military adviser at the Turkish entrenched camp of Shumla. Subsequently he was given command of a division in the Balkans. With extraordinary skill, in the face of an immensely superior Russian force, he fought at Tashkessan one of the most brilliant and successful rearguard actions on record. ”

“ Here he made a stay of five months, and explored the Setit river, but most of the time was spent in big game hunting. His prowess in the field won for him the friendship and admiration of the Hamran Arabs, themselves mighty hunters. He explored other tributaries of the Atbara, including the Bahr-er-Salam and the Angareb, and followed up the course of the Rehad to its confluence with the Blue Nile. Thence he marched to Khartoum, where he arrived on 11 June 1862. ”

“ For carriers, as well as for permission to pass through his country, Baker was completely dependent on the will of this grasping potentate, whose extortion reached its climax in a demand for the explorer's wife. Leaving the Nile towards the end of February with an escort of three hundred of Kamrasi's men, whom he was soon glad enough to be rid of, Baker pursued his way along the right bank of the Kaja river with only twelve male followers. ”

“ A portrait of Baker from a photograph is prefixed to the 'Memoir' by Douglas Murray, and medallion portraits of both the explorer and Lady Baker, engraved by C. H. Jeens, appear in his book the 'Albert Nyanza;' a reproduction of a photograph also appears in the 'Geographical Journal' (iii. 152) . In appearance he was described by Lord Wharncliffe, who had been his companion in big game hunting, as a man of very powerful build, of medium height, but with very broad shoulders and deep chest, and possessing an extraordinary capacity for enduring fatigue. ”

“ In order to secure the best man for the working out of a dangerous situation, the colonial secretary showed himself superior to party politics, and his instructions as to the policy to be pursued (Grey, Colonial Policy, i. 206, 234) were statesmanlike and worthy of the occasion. On the riots at Montreal following Lord Elgin's consent to the rebellion losses indemnity bill, Lord Grey defended in the House of Lords the governor-general's action, and declared that the principle of responsible government was the only possible method of administration for Canada. ”

“ Denman was popular on the bench, but was more distinguished as a graceful scholar than as a strong lawyer. He was gifted with a fine presence and a beautiful voice, and maintained without effort the dignity of his office. From his school days he was a facile writer of verses, and throughout life found relaxation in study of the Greek and Latin classics. ”

“ In 1853 he published 'The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration' (2 vols.) in the form of a series of letters addressed to the late prime minister ; therein he boasted that during his period of office a remarkable development in both the population and the resources of the colonies had taken place, a commercial revolution deeply affecting the colonies had been safely passed through, and a great reduction of the colonial charges imposed on the treasury had been effected (Colonial Policy, ii. 303) . ”

“ In 1880, when Gladstone came again into power, he gave new proof of his confidence in Childers, appointing him secretary of state for war. In this capacity he was responsible for the administration of the war office during the Transvaal war of 1881 and the Egyptian campaign of 1882. He was not slow to display at the war office qualities similar to those he had exhibited at the admiralty. ”

“ Childers, however, continued to act for the colony in an informal way, and to the end of his life was a staunch advocate of colonial federation. He visited Australia in 1858 on behalf of Messrs. Baring with regard to a proposed loan to the colonies for the purchase of railways by the state. On his return to England in September 1858 Childers determined to devote himself to politics, and at the general election of 1859 stood in the liberal interest for Pontefract, where he possessed some interest through his uncle. ”

“ In whatever quarter of the globe he chanced to be, whether in pursuit of elephants in Africa and Ceylon, tiger-hunting in the central provinces in India, deer-stalking in Japan, bear-shooting in the Eocky Mountains, this iron-nerved sportsman ever proved his ability to excel all others. He himself regarded the pursuit of dangerous game as the best training for either an explorer or a soldier {True Tales for my Grandsons, p. ”

“ In 1848 he ceased to practise and found employment at the board of trade, where Sir Stafford Northcote was assistant secretary, in drafting bills dealing with the mercantile marine. This temporary work led to his permanent employment in the civil service, and he was granted the appointment of assistant secretary to the marine department of the board of trade in 1850. In this branch of the civil service he spent his life; he became assistant secretary in 1854 and was permanent secretary of the board from 1865 until 1886. ”

“ James Stansfeld [q. v. Suppl.] as a civil lord of the admiralty, under the Duke of Somerset, the first lord in Lord Palmerston's administration, and from the first showed himself to be a strong supporter of economy and reform in dockyard administration. In August 1865 he was appointed financial secretary to the treasury, and cemented a friendship with Gladstone, then chancellor of the exchequer, whose policy rather than that of Palmerston he was from the first inclined to support. ”

“ They included the subjection to Egyptian authority of the countries situate to the south of Gondokoro, the suppression of the slave-trade and the introduction of regular commerce, and the opening to navigation of the great lakes about the Equator. To carry out this ambitious programme Baker was provided with some twelve hundred Egyptian and Soudanese troops, and a great quantity of supplies of all kinds. He was the first Englishman to undertake high office under the Egyptian government, and in accepting the command was in no way supported by the English foreign office. ”

“ On the formation of Gladstone's first administration in December 1868 Childers was appointed first lord of the admiralty, and was admitted to the privy council. During his term of office he proved himself an active administrator, and carried out a number of far-reaching reforms. His main efforts aimed at promoting economy and increased efficiency in the existing administrative body. ”

“ Three years later it was, however, found to be to the interest of the Midland to recall him to the post of general manager, and his services were almost immediately successfully employed in opposing a proposed bill which would have enabled the London and North-Western, the Great Northern, and Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railways by far-reaching agreements seriously to handicap traffic on the Midland. ”

“ He urged the injustice of appropriating Irish church revenues for the exclusive benefit of a minority, and demanded security for permanent improvements by occupiers of land. His motion was negatived without a division, but his early sympathy with Irish grievances was not forgotten, and rendered the voice that he subsequently raised against Gladstone's policy of home rule the more influential. ”

“ Since 1880 Childers had been gradually inclining towards a policy in Ireland which should harmonise, as far as was safe and practicable, with the aspirations of Irish nationalists. In September 1885 he informed Gladstone that he intended in his election campaign to advocate a wide measure of self-government for Ireland. ”

“ His own account of the action was that, on the square being threatened by a force of the enemy less than one thousand strong, the Egyptian troops threw down their arms and ran, allowing themselves to be killed without the slightest resistance (ib. p. 169) . He acted on the intelligence staff of the force under Sir Gerald Graham [q. v. Suppl.] , and guided the advance of the army to the second battle of El Teb on 29 Feb. 1884, on which occasion he was wounded.
Baker remained in command of the Egyptian police till his death, which took place at Tel-el-kebir from angina pectoris on 17 Nov. ”

“ He started again with Lady Baker on 1 Dec. 1870, and the expedition passing through the Bahr Ez Zraf branch of the river made its way with enormous difficulty by cutting canals through the sudd. Gondokoro was reached on 15 April 1871, and was formally annexed to Egyptian sovereignty on 26 May 1871. As the station was practically in the possession of the slave-traders. Baker was forced for a supply of porters and provisions to come to terms with the great dealer, Ahmed Akad, who leased from the Egyptian government the monopoly of the ivory trade. ”

“ He continued in the Turkish service, and after the conclusion of the war was commissioned to superintend the carrying out of the proposed Turkish reforms in Armenia. In 1882 he entered the Egyptian service on the offer being made to him of the command of the newly organised Egyptian army; but on his arrival at Cairo this offer was withdrawn, and he was given the command of the police. Baker was convinced that the police would sooner or later be wanted as a military reserve, and concentrated his attention rather on the semi-military gendarmerie than the police proper (Milner, Egypt, p. 332) . ”

“ FARRER, SIR THOMAS HENRY, bart., first Baron Farrer (1819–1899) , civil servant, was the eldest son of Thomas Farrer (1788–1833) , solicitor, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, by Cecilia, third daughter of Richard Willis of Halsnead, Lancashire. Farrer was born in Bedford Place, Russell Square, on 24 June 1819. He was educated at Eton, where he made a close friendship with Stafford Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh) (Lang, Life of Lord Iddesleigh, i. 17) . He matriculated from Balliol College, Oxford, on 16 June 1836, and graduated B.A. in 1840. ”

“ He was always in favour of enlarging the operation of the various reform bills and took an active part in the debate on the representation of the people bill, 1867. In all questions in parliament affecting the public schools and universities he exhibited great interest and supported the university tests bill, 23 May 1870 (Hansard, cci. 1280) .
In October 1872 Denman was chosen to succeed Sir James Shaw Willes [q. v.] in the court of common pleas. As the son of a peer he did not accept the customary knighthood. ”

“ The suggestion that Speke did not wish to share with another the discovery of the exact point of emergence is quite unfounded. Grant was asked to accompany him, and afterwards declared that 'his own state of health alone prevented him from accompanying Speke' (Walk across Africa, p. 247) . Great difficulty was experienced in approaching Chagasi, owing to the unwillingness of the king to receive the party, and Grant was obliged to retire towards Uganda, when by a fortunate accident he came across Speke's party on 19 Aug. ”

“ His ability for work and organisation was soon noted, and on 11 Oct. 1852 he was given the office of auditor-general, with a seat in the legislative council, and a salary of 1,200l. a year. In this office he practically controlled the revenue of the colony at the early age of twenty-six. On 4 Nov. 1852 he produced his first budget, which provided 10,000l. for a university at Melbourne, and on 11 Jan. 1853 he brought in a bill for the establishment of the university, of which he was made first vice-chancellor. ”

“ The fact also that the whole expedition had been independently devised and the charges thereof defrayed by the traveller added not a little to the honour of his achievement. On his return to England in October 1865 he found that the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society had already been awarded to him ; and in the following year he was presented with the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society, and his services were recognised in August 1866 by the honour of knighthood. ”

“ BENT, JAMES THEODORE (1852–1897) , explorer and archaeologist, born at Baildon on 30 March 1852, was the only child of James Bent of Baildon, near Leeds, by Margaret Eleanor, eldest daughter and co-heiress of James Lambert of Baildon. He was educated first at Malvern Wells, then at Repton school. ”

“ Baker had also during the period gained for himself experience as an explorer, mastered Arabic, and acquired the use of astronomical instruments. He now spent six months at Khartoum in preparation for his greater effort.
Failing to secure government troops as an escort, he started on 18 Dec. 1862 up the Nile with three vessels, twenty-nine transport animals, and a party of ninety-six, including forty-five armed men. Gondokoro was reached on 2 Feb. 1863, and information was there received of two white men who were detained on the Upper Nile. ”

“ Fyffe held decided views as a land law reformer, and was one of the founders of the free land league; he was an unsuccessful candidate for the city of Oxford in the radical interest at the general election in 1885. ”

“ The hostility, however, of the traders was. hardly veiled, and the Bari tribesmen were by them incited to attack Baker's force, and were only partially subdued after very troublesome fighting. Leaving a garrison at Gondokoro the new governor started on 23 Jan, 1872 with 212 officers and men on his journey south ; he established stations at Afuddo and Faliko, and pushed on through Unyoro, which country he publicly declared at Masindi on 14 May 1872 to be under the protection of the Egyptian government. ”